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HighMag Blog
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- June 18, 2013
- 03:31 PM
- 28 views
June 18, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
The study of how cells move in development is not just about development. Understanding cell migration can also help researchers understand how tumors spread and invade other tissues. So, the next time you see someone roll their eyes at your fruit fly egg chambers (or worm vulva, or culture dishes), take pity at their ignorance and explain to them how they should thank you instead.The movement of cells during development drives the shape changes and organization of an embryo. I........ Read more »
Lucas, E., Khanal, I., Gaspar, P., Fletcher, G., Polesello, C., Tapon, N., & Thompson, B. (2013) The Hippo pathway polarizes the actin cytoskeleton during collective migration of Drosophila border cells. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(6), 875-885. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201210073
- June 11, 2013
- 04:06 PM
- 48 views
June 11, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
I’m willing to bet that most scientists were pretty destructive as kids. Not intentionally destructive, though…I bet we all liked taking things apart to see what each part of a toy did. Maybe your Teddy Ruxpin eventually sounded like a demonic doll after your experiments, or you finally pulled apart your Etch-A-Sketch to uncover the magic. Either way, it was early training for what scientists do every day to understand cells better. Today’s image is from a pap........ Read more »
Schiller, H., Hermann, M., Polleux, J., Vignaud, T., Zanivan, S., Friedel, C., Sun, Z., Raducanu, A., Gottschalk, K., Théry, M.... (2013) β1- and αv-class integrins cooperate to regulate myosin II during rigidity sensing of fibronectin-based microenvironments. Nature Cell Biology, 15(6), 625-636. DOI: 10.1038/ncb2747
- June 4, 2013
- 04:20 PM
- 40 views
June 4, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
HighMag is back from an early summer vacation at the beach, and ready to get our microscopic groove on. Happy Summer, everyone!Our world is the same size it’s always been, but so many advances in technology have made the world seem a lot smaller. We can call our brother across the country and video chat with our sister on the other side of the world, all while searching the internet for the lyrics to Snow’s “Informer” (side note…knowing the lyrics won’t help you understan........ Read more »
Lu, W., Fox, P., Lakonishok, M., Davidson, M., & Gelfand, V. (2013) Initial Neurite Outgrowth in Drosophila Neurons Is Driven by Kinesin-Powered Microtubule Sliding. Current Biology, 23(11), 1018-1023. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.050
- May 24, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 76 views
May 24, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
There isn’t a cell biologist out there who doesn’t fantasize about reaching her hands into a cell and physically manipulating whatever protein or structure that she obsesses over. While we can’t do that with our own hands, optical tweezers can…and the information we learn is invaluable. Today’s image is from a paper that uses optical tweezers to measure the forces within a mitotic spindle.The mechanics within a mitotic spindle are complicated, and cannot be fully understood........ Read more »
Ferraro-Gideon, J., Sheykhani, R., Zhu, Q., Duquette, M., Berns, M., & Forer, A. (2013) Measurements of forces produced by the mitotic spindle using optical tweezers. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 24(9), 1375-1386. DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E12-12-0901
Sheykhani, R., Baker, N., Gomez-Godinez, V., Liaw, L., Shah, J., Berns, M., & Forer, A. (2013) The role of actin and myosin in PtK2 spindle length changes induced by laser microbeam irradiations across the spindle. Cytoskeleton, 70(5), 241-259. DOI: 10.1002/cm.21104
- May 21, 2013
- 09:53 PM
- 35 views
May 21, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” said the microscopist. Light plays a crucial role in microscopy and cell biology, and a recent paper describes the use of light to understand protein secretion.Light is used in microscopy in countless ways—to illuminate a sample, excite a fluorophore, and signal the localization or dynamics of a protein. Light can also be used to manipulate cellular events through the use of “caged” compounds that become active after illumination by certain wavelengths........ Read more »
Chen, D., Gibson, E., & Kennedy, M. (2013) A light-triggered protein secretion system. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(4), 631-640. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201210119
- May 13, 2013
- 03:07 PM
- 50 views
May 13, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
Molecular motors are some of the raddest things in a cell. They can walk along cytoskeletal elements such as microtubules and actin filaments, and the list of cellular events that they participate in is a long, long list. Today’s image is from a paper showing a beautiful pattern of nonmuscle myosin II in epithelial cells.Epithelial cells assemble junctions to adhere to one another, and the actin motor nonmuscle myosin II (NMII) is a major component of these epithelial apical juncti........ Read more »
Ebrahim, S., Fujita, T., Millis, B., Kozin, E., Ma, X., Kawamoto, S., Baird, M., Davidson, M., Yonemura, S., Hisa, Y.... (2013) NMII Forms a Contractile Transcellular Sarcomeric Network to Regulate Apical Cell Junctions and Tissue Geometry. Current Biology, 23(8), 731-736. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.039
- May 9, 2013
- 03:41 PM
- 67 views
May 9, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
When we think of wounds, we don’t typically think of them as part of normal, healthy function. Micro-wounds, however, form when white blood cells have to cross the barrier in our blood vessels to get to an injury or infection. These micro-wounds happen all the time, and our cells heal these wounds efficiently and elegantly.One of the most important barriers in our body is that created by the vascular endothelium. Vascular endothelial cells line all of our blood vessels—from........ Read more »
Martinelli, R., Kamei, M., Sage, P., Massol, R., Varghese, L., Sciuto, T., Toporsian, M., Dvorak, A., Kirchhausen, T., Springer, T.... (2013) Release of cellular tension signals self-restorative ventral lamellipodia to heal barrier micro-wounds. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(3), 449-465. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201209077
- May 6, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 64 views
May 6, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
Our bodies have multiple fronts for battling viruses, and it’s impressive that any of those suckers manage to invade our bodies at all. When virus particles do make their way into a cell, it’s important for biologists to understand their pathway through a cell in order to create drug therapies and vaccines. Today’s image is from a paper describing the use of high resolution imaging to understand this process.The polarized cells that line our digestive and respiratory tracts for........ Read more »
Boulant, S., Stanifer, M., Kural, C., Cureton, D., Massol, R., Nibert, M., & Kirchhausen, T. (2013) Similar uptake but different trafficking and escape routes of reovirus virions and infectious subvirion particles imaged in polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 24(8), 1196-1207. DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E12-12-0852
- May 2, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 73 views
May 2, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
If cells had their own soundtracks, I think any flagella-wielding cells would take home the prize. Maybe the soundtrack begins on a high note with Devo’s “Whip It!”, continues on to the more crass Clarence Carter, plateaus with some headbanging death metal, and finally pays homage to Flock of Seagulls simply due to their flagellar waveform hair. Today’s image is from a paper describing an outer-inner dynein link in flagella.Flagella are whip-like organelles protruding from ce........ Read more »
Oda, T., Yagi, T., Yanagisawa, H., & Kikkawa, M. (2013) Identification of the Outer-Inner Dynein Linker as a Hub Controller for Axonemal Dynein Activities. Current Biology, 23(8), 656-664. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.028
- April 29, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 77 views
April 29, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
There are many, many things in cell biology that can serve as models for fine art, but fewer are more stunning to me than a Purkinje neuron. Purkinje neurons are some of the largest neurons in the brain, where they participate in motor control from the cerebellum. Today’s image is from a paper describing what happens when a protein called rictor is depleted from Purkinje neurons.The two multi-protein complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2 share sensitivity to inhibition by the immunosuppressi........ Read more »
Thomanetz, V., Angliker, N., Cloetta, D., Lustenberger, R., Schweighauser, M., Oliveri, F., Suzuki, N., & Ruegg, M. (2013) Ablation of the mTORC2 component rictor in brain or Purkinje cells affects size and neuron morphology. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(2), 293-308. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201205030
- April 26, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 93 views
April 26, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
It’s Worm Week here at HighMag Blog. Worms are amazing little creatures, and the species C. elegans is an invaluable model system for studying cell and developmental biology. Their genome is sequenced, their development is precise and well-documented, and their bodies and embryos are translucent (making them photogenic under a microscope). Today’s image is from the same lab that brought Tuesday’s image…worm gonads rock!Blurb and image from Christian R. Eckmann:The image........ Read more »
Gracida, X., & Eckmann, C. (2013) Fertility and Germline Stem Cell Maintenance under Different Diets Requires nhr-114/HNF4 in C. elegans. Current Biology, 23(7), 607-613. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.034
- April 23, 2013
- 07:34 AM
- 89 views
April 23, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
I’m thankful that my body knows how to handle days when I feed it wonderful things, like a banana and a giant bowl of strawberries, then follow it up with a few gut-busting mini-doughnuts. Although worms and other organisms don’t have access to doughnuts like I do, their bodies still have protections in place to handle changes in their diet. Today’s image is from a paper describing how the germline is protected from a changing diet.Organisms consume a variety of food options, y........ Read more »
Gracida, X., & Eckmann, C. (2013) Fertility and Germline Stem Cell Maintenance under Different Diets Requires nhr-114/HNF4 in C. elegans. Current Biology, 23(7), 607-613. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.034
- April 16, 2013
- 03:21 PM
- 73 views
April 16, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
I’m as type-A as a person can get, with my organized desk, to-do lists, and inability to roll with it (I sound dreadful, right?). One thing that will never change is the calm I feel when I read the word “systematic” in a paper’s title or abstract. Anything done systematically soothes me like a heartbeat soothes a newborn. Today’s image is from a paper that uses a—you guessed it—systematic approach to understanding the roles of dynein and its many regulators in mit........ Read more »
Raaijmakers, J., Tanenbaum, M., & Medema, R. (2013) Systematic dissection of dynein regulators in mitosis. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(2), 201-215. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201208098
- April 12, 2013
- 11:07 AM
- 120 views
April 12, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
I think I speak for many when I say that dinosaurs were the first objects of our life-long science obsessions. Their size, history, and ferocious good looks fascinate even the youngest preschoolers. Although my obsession turned to microscopic things, some folks remained true to their love of dinosaurs and history. Today’s image is a treat, and a great example of how the basic questions in developmental biology know no timeline.The study of dinosaur embryos at the cellular lev........ Read more »
Reisz, R., Huang, T., Roberts, E., Peng, S., Sullivan, C., Stein, K., LeBlanc, A., Shieh, D., Chang, R., Chiang, C.... (2013) Embryology of Early Jurassic dinosaur from China with evidence of preserved organic remains. Nature, 496(7444), 210-214. DOI: 10.1038/nature11978
- April 9, 2013
- 03:18 PM
- 105 views
April 9, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
Our genome is chock full of so many things that aren’t even genes. In fact, only about 2% of the human genome actually encodes protein sequences...mind blown, right?! There are many different kinds of elements and domains within our genome that regulate gene expression through their roles in chromosome architecture and organization. Today’s image is from a paper that describes the dynamics of one type of domain—the lamina associated domain.The nuclear lamina is a protein ........ Read more »
Kind, J., Pagie, L., Ortabozkoyun, H., Boyle, S., de Vries, S., Janssen, H., Amendola, M., Nolen, L., Bickmore, W., & van Steensel, B. (2013) Single-Cell Dynamics of Genome-Nuclear Lamina Interactions. Cell, 153(1), 178-192. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.02.028
- April 5, 2013
- 08:14 AM
- 119 views
April 5, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
Cell adhesion is sticky business. See what I did there?! Comedy. Gold. Seriously, though, cell adhesion is complicated, with many types of cell adhesion structures that form at specific regions of the cell at specific times. As important as it is to understand cell adhesion and its role in development, cancer, and normal cell function, we are all thankful for papers like the one that today’s image comes from.Cadherins are transmembrane proteins that form cell-cell adhes........ Read more »
Hong, S., Troyanovsky, R., & Troyanovsky, S. (2013) Binding to F-actin guides cadherin cluster assembly, stability, and movement. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 201(1), 131-143. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201211054
- April 2, 2013
- 03:39 PM
- 123 views
April 2, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
As I write this, I have dirt underneath my fingernails and I love it. Spring is here, and I have begun playing in the dirt and cheering for my budding vegetable garden seedlings. I love the food plants provide us, but they’re also fascinating models for understanding cell biology and developmental biology. Today’s image is from a paper identifying a player in the development of stomata, which are important plant organs.Stomata are pore organs on leaves that regulate gas and........ Read more »
Negi, J., Moriwaki, K., Konishi, M., Yokoyama, R., Nakano, T., Kusumi, K., Hashimoto-Sugimoto, M., Schroeder, J., Nishitani, K., Yanagisawa, S.... (2013) A Dof Transcription Factor, SCAP1, Is Essential for the Development of Functional Stomata in Arabidopsis. Current Biology, 23(6), 479-484. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.001
- March 29, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 103 views
March 29, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
I bet a lot of you have that ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend who just hangs on….and hangs on tighter even though you’ve driven off to college and totally matured past the desire to want someone who can crush a beer can on his/her forehead. He/she was totally pulling an endoplasmic reticulum, and the paper that brought us today’s image shows us why.Endosomes form at the plasma membrane, where they take in material from outside the cell. They mature, with some cargo recycled back t........ Read more »
Friedman, J., DiBenedetto, J., West, M., Rowland, A., & Voeltz, G. (2013) Endoplasmic reticulum-endosome contact increases as endosomes traffic and mature. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 24(7), 1030-1040. DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E12-10-0733
- March 26, 2013
- 03:10 PM
- 133 views
March 26, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
When Outkast sang that “I like the way you mooove,” I immediately figured they were talking my dancing skills. Turns out, they were really singing about motile cells…true story*. Today’s image is from a paper showing a link between the chemical signals that tell a cell to move and how the cell actually moves.As an axon searches for its synaptic target, it sends out a motile extension called a growth cone. The chemical cues that initiate mobility in the growth cone trigg........ Read more »
Toriyama, M., Kozawa, S., Sakumura, Y., & Inagaki, N. (2013) Conversion of a Signal into Forces for Axon Outgrowth through Pak1-Mediated Shootin1 Phosphorylation. Current Biology, 23(6), 529-534. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.017
- March 22, 2013
- 07:00 AM
- 67 views
March 22, 2013
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
If there was an NCAA-type bracket of cool things to image in a cell, I’m pretty sure a spindle would make it pretty far in the tournament—if not take the whole thing. They are extremely photogenic, and their important role and dynamic nature make them a top seed for sure. Today’s image is from a paper identifying a new player in spindle positioning.The position of the mitotic spindle serves as the guide to where the cell will be divided into two daughter cells in cytokinesis.&n........ Read more »
Zhu M, Settele F, Kotak S, Sanchez-Pulido L, Ehret L, Ponting CP, Gönczy P, & Hoffmann I. (2013) MISP is a novel Plk1 substrate required for proper spindle orientation and mitotic progression. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 200(6), 773-87. PMID: 23509069
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